If you are interested in moonlighting, here are three tips to keep in mind before moving forward:

1. Make sure that you have enough time. Sure, the money may sound good, but with that being said you need the time to work this second job. If you have a family or other obligations, it is important to keep them in mind while considering this option.

2. What path are you going to take? In other words, are you going to pick up a second job for another company or are you going to work for yourself as a freelancer? When it comes to moonlighting, a large number of people feel that the freelance route is the best option. The reason for this is that when you work for yourself you have the ability to control your hours and income. It is this flexibility that will give you the chance to get started, and hopefully hold onto your second job until your finances are back in order.

Believe it or not, many people start moonlighting and eventually move into this position full-time. For instance, you may want to start doing freelance web design work part-time. After you establish yourself within the industry, you may find out that moving into this position on a full-time basis is more than possible.

3. Set both personal and income related goals. By doing this you will have the best possible chance to succeed. In order to get moving in the right direction, make sure that you start with smaller goals. You may want to eventually earn as much at your second job as you do at your first job. But when setting early goals, this may not be reasonable. It is important to set attainable goals so that you feel confident when moving forward. 

If you need to earn extra money, moonlighting may be just what you have been looking for. 

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Pros

1. Your car insurance company may offer a discount if you pay for your policy several months in advance. In fact, they may offer larger discounts if you pay one year in advance as opposed to three or six months. This all depends on your policy, as well as what your company is willing to offer. 

2. You can save yourself a lot of time by paying for car insurance months in advance. As you probably know, it can be a pain in the neck to pay bills every month. By paying your car insurance in advance you can save yourself this time and stress once per month.

3. Pay it and forget it! Car insurance is not something that you want to think about everyday of your life; it just isn’t that exciting. For this reason, you may be best off paying your policy for a few months in advance and then forgetting about it until you receive another statement in the mail.

Cons

1. If you are on a tight budget, you may not have the money to pay for your car insurance policy months in advance. For instance, if your car insurance premium is $100/month you may be able to manage this payment. But for many, paying 6 months in advance at a clip of $600 minus any discount may be impossible. This all depends on how much money you have available, as well as what you are expecting in the near future as far as your finances are concerned.

2. What if you want to change your car insurance company but you are paid up in advance? This can make for a very tricky situation. Some car insurance companies may tell you that they cannot refund your money, whereas others may only give you back a certain percentage. And even if the company is willing to refund 100 percent of the money that you prepaid, you will have to wait for this payment which can be a pain in the neck. The end result in many cases is getting stuck with your current insurer until your next payment is due.

As you can see, there are both pros and cons of paying for car insurance in advance. Weigh your options before you make a final decision.

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There are two questions that you must answer before you can make the final leap:

1. How much money can you afford to save each month? This will depend largely on how much you earn, your expenses, and what you already have in the bank. Many people like to save a certain percentage of their take home pay, but unfortunately, this is not always easy to do.

By taking a close look at your budget, you should be able to see how much money you can afford to invest each month. Remember, any savings is better than none. Do not think that it is stupid to stock away $20 per month. If this is all you can afford, so be it. This money will add up over time; especially when you take advantage of the power of interest.

2. Where are you going to save your money? This is perhaps the most important question to answer once you decide that you are going to start saving today. The best way to answer this question is to determine what you are trying to accomplish. For instance, if you want to establish an emergency fund you may opt for an online savings account offering a high interest rate. On the other side of things, you may want to save for retirement by opening a traditional or Roth IRA. Where you put your savings is up to you, and depends on the financial situation that you are in.

To put it bluntly, quit saying that you are going to save money and get started today. You will be glad that you did as time goes by!

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Here are three ways that you can save money at the grocery store:

1. Although it may seem like an outdated idea, you should still search for coupons. Not only can you find coupons from manufacturers, but many stores offer their own. You can search for these online, in weekly circulars that you receive in the mail, and in the “lobby” of your favorite grocery store. No matter where you get your coupons, it is a good idea to use them.

2. Which stores in your area have the best deals? Remember, this can change from week to week. One store may have a huge sale on meat today, but next week this deal could be found across town. Make sure that you keep an eye out for which stores are offering the best prices or deals on the type of products that you are interested in purchasing.

3. Grocery-only stores are not always your best bet. For instance, in my area, there are many times when Wal-Mart is offering better deals than Giant Eagle of Shop-n-Save. You should definitely consider buying your groceries at a Wal-Mart or Target if you have one in your area. You may be surprised to find that they offer a better selection at a lower price in many cases.

How much money can you save by using these tips? Well, this all depends on what you are buying, the types of coupons you are using, and where you shop. Some weeks you may come across several deals that could save you $10 or more. But other times you may only save a couple of bucks by using coupons.

No matter what, your savings will add up over the course of a year. If you go grocery shopping twice per month and save $5 each time, after one year you will have saved $120. Not bad, right?

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Of course, you need to make sure that you are careful when putting together an entertainment budget. After all, you do have other expenses that are more important, right?

Here are three details to keep in mind when it comes to your entertainment budget:

1. Make sure that you give yourself enough money to have fun. It is one thing to say that you have an entertainment budget, but if you only leave yourself $5, you are not going to get very far. With that being said, a lot of this has to do with your income and how much you spend on more important expenses such as your mortgage, car payment, etc. It is important to have an entertainment budget, but not at the expense of more important things in your life.

2. On the opposite side of number one, make sure that you do not overdo it. You should give yourself enough money to have fun, but not so much that you are not being financially responsible. You should have an idea of how much money you spend each month on entertainment, and from there it will be easy to put together a budget.

3. If you have money leftover from last month, make sure that you carry it over. For instance, your entertainment budget may be $100/month. If you only spent $50 last month, you can carry over the rest. This will allow you to have $150 for the current month, or to take that extra money and put it somewhere else; such as an emergency fund.

With the three details above, you should be able to put together an entertainment budget that you are comfortable with.

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To build on the post at GRS, here are four questions to answer if you are interested in starting or bettering your emergency fund:

1. How much money do I need to keep in my emergency fund? This can be difficult to answer, and everybody has their own opinion. Personally, I like to keep one year’s worth of monthly expenses in this type of account. This way if something were to happen I could pretty much take off work for a year and still live a similar lifestyle. If this is not possible for you, start with a smaller goal and continue to build your emergency fund each month.

2. How should I fund my account? The best way to do this is to take money out of each paycheck and immediately deposit it into your emergency fund. In fact, you may even be able to set up a direct deposit with your employer so that you never see the money. This is a great option because it helps to ensure that you do not spend the money before it makes it to your account. For me, this is difficult because I receive payments throughout the month. But even then, I always make sure that I have enough leftover after expenses to stock a few bucks away in this account.

3. When should I use my emergency fund? You need to answer this question based on the situation that you are in. For instance, an emergency fund is a great place to turn for unexpected expenses such as medical bills or car repairs. If you can pay for something without dipping into this find you should consider doing so.

4. What if I use all the money in my emergency fund? This is a common question because there may come a time when your emergency fund is bone dry. The best way to combat this issue is to always make sure that you are adding money each month. This way, even if you do have to withdrawal all the money, you can get started saving once again soon enough.

Hopefully, these four questions and answers, accompanied by the article at GRS, will allow you to better care for your emergency fund. 

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If you do not know how you spend your money, it is important that you get to the bottom of this problem right away. You do not want to become one of those people who never balance their checkbook because “the money is always in there.” If you go through life living this way, you will find it difficult to save. Not to mention the fact that you will never know if a mistake was made that may have cheated you out of your hard earned cash.

In April I earned approximately $5,800 through freelance writing. Since this is my full-time job, this is all the money that I have coming in. At the beginning of every month, I go over my budget and decide where every last penny from the previous month is going to end up. Is this going overboard? Some people may say yes, but for me, I like to know where all my money is at. It makes me feel in control, and with that, I feel more confident that I am doing the right thing.

Although everybody is different, I divvy up my money in this order every month:

1. Expenses including mortgage, car payment, health insurance, utilities, groceries, etc.
2. Savings including retirement accounts, online accounts, CDs, etc.
3. Money for entertainment such as eating out, movies, and sporting events.

The reason that I work in this order is simple. First and foremost, I have to pay any bills that are due; that is if I want to keep my house and be able to watch television.

From there, I always try to stock away as much as possible into accounts for the future. Even though retirement is a long way away, time has a way of passing us by. To go along with this, I like to stock away some extra bucks in an emergency account each month.

Finally, it is important to have fun in life. Sure, it is important to pay your bills on time and save for the future, but if you are not having any fun along the way you are going to lead a dull life. Many people see entertainment expenses as wasted money. While I can see where they are coming from, I disagree with them at this time. I like to have fun, and it is important to save money for activities that will allow me to do so.

All in all, there is no law that says my way of doing things is right. In fact, I am sure that many readers will disagree with how I spend my money. But as I mentioned earlier, that is the great thing about the money you earn: it is up to you to decide how it is spent! 

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What do you do?

After telling a lender that you are self-employed, one of the first things that they will ask is what you do. Believe it or not, I once had a mortgage broker ask me if I was a “self-employed drug dealer.” While he was just kidding, this just goes to show you how lenders think. They want to know exactly where your money is coming from, whether it is a legal source of income, and if your job is stable enough to support a mortgage payment.

How much do you earn?

Any lender is going to want to know how much you earn. This holds true even if you are not self-employed. As a freelance writer, I do not receive one paycheck per month that shows my income. For this reason, it takes a bit of creativity and time to get on the same page as the lender. Wells Fargo asked for two years worth of bank statements and tax information. This showed them not only how much money I earned the past two years, but how much I had saved as well as where my money was going each month.

But wait, we want more…

Believe it or not, some lenders are not going to be happy with tax returns and bank statements. A couple of days before the closing on my current home, my mortgage broker called to tell me that the lender now wanted three “letters of reference” from current clients. Not only did they want letters, but they required them to state particular details such as the type of work completed. This put me into a scramble, and I barely met the deadline. Luckily, I have several steady clients who were more than willing to help me out because they have gone through this same process themselves.

There is no denying that being self-employed is full of benefits. I get to work from home, make my own schedule, and call all the shots for my business. But when it comes to obtaining loans, sometimes I wish that I received a steady paycheck.

If you ever run into this situation, keep these two points in mind:

1. There is a lender somewhere that is willing to work with you. They may be difficult to find, but keep looking. If you need help, get in touch with a mortgage broker. They know which lenders tend to deal more kindly with self-employed professionals.

2. Make sure that you give yourself plenty of time to get together the appropriate paperwork. As mentioned above, you never know when your lender is going to ask for more. If you are organized, you can move forward as quickly as possible so you are not forced to delay closing on your new home.

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As you can imagine, personal finance is something that I get tired of from time to time. With that being said, this is a topic that I have grown to love over the years. Not only do I find it fun to have total control over my finances, but since I am a writer, I love to share my experiences and personal information with others.

Since this is my first post, I am going to keep things simple. But from here on out, I plan on touching on different areas of personal finance with each piece that I publish. Just a few of the topics that I am going to discuss include saving, investing, taxes, health insurance, and of course, my own financial life.

To get a better idea of how much money I earn and what I do with it, check out one of my recent freelance writing income posts at my personal blog, ChrisBlogging.com. On that blog I talk mainly about freelance writing, and always post my monthly income. On this blog, I am going to share information on how much I earn, and then take things a step further by discussing saving and investing strategies as well as how my money is spent.

Personal finance from where I set is much different than many others. When you are self-employed you not only have to worry about the money that is coming in, but also how to earn and manage this money from step one.

My goal is to lend useful tips on personal finance and money in general, while also learning a lot from my readers at the same time.